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Gunman in Trump assassination attempt saw rally as 'target of opportunity,' FBI official says

  • Eric Tucker, The Associated Press

  • Canadian Press

  • August 28, 2024

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. Few Americans have high confidence in the Secret Service's ability to keep presidential candidates safe after last month's attempt on Trump's life. That is according to a new poll conducted July 25-29, 2024, from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Only around three in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the Secret Service can keep the presidential candidates safe from violence before the election. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a "target of opportunity," a senior FBI official said Wednesday.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at Trump from a nearby roof before being killed by a Secret Service countersniper, did extensive research for an attack before the shooting and had looked at any number of events or targets, including events the current and former president, said Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office.

The new details were disclosed as FBI officials, in the latest in a series of briefings about the investigation, revealed that they had yet to uncover a motive for the July 13 attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, despite conducting nearly 1,000 interviews

"We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time," Rojek said.